🕊️Saint Joseph of Cupertino, born in Italy in the 17th century, is a luminous example of how holiness does not depend on human intelligence but on charity and humility. Having faced enormous difficulties to be admitted into the Franciscan Order due to his intellectual limitations, he stood out for an ardent love of God, which manifested in ecstasies and levitations, especially during Holy Mass. He called himself "Brother Ass," in a display of profound humility and love for contempt, considering himself the most useless of God's servants. His life reflects the truth that "charity never fails," for although he lacked great knowledge, he possessed the highest wisdom: the love of God.
🙏Introit (Ecclus 1:14-15 | Ps 83:2)Diléctio Dei honorábilis sapiéntia... The love of God is honourable wisdom. They that see her shall love her by the sight and by the knowledge of her great works. Ps. How lovely are Thy tabernacles, O Lord of hosts! My soul longeth and fainteth for the courts of the Lord. ℣. Glory be to the Father.
💌Epistle (I Cor 13:1-8)
Brethren: If I speak with the tongues of men and of Angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. And if I should have prophecy and should know all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I should have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing. And if I should distribute all my goods to feed the poor, and if I should deliver my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing. Charity is patient, is kind: charity envieth not, dealeth not perversely, is not puffed up, is not ambitious, seeketh not her own, is not provoked to anger, thinketh no evil, rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth with the truth; beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. Charity never falleth away: whether prophecies shall be made void, or tongues shall cease, or knowledge shall be destroyed.
📖Gospel (Mt 22:1-14)
At that time, Jesus spoke to the chief priests and Pharisees in parables, saying: The kingdom of heaven is likened to a king who made a marriage for his son. And he sent his servants to call them that were invited to the marriage; and they would not come. Again he sent other servants, saying: Tell them that were invited, Behold, I have prepared my dinner; my beeves and fatlings are killed, and all things are ready: come ye to the marriage. But they neglected, and went their ways, one to his farm, and another to his merchandise. And the rest laid hands on his servants, and having treated them contumeliously, put them to death. But when the king had heard of it, he was angry, and sending his armies, he destroyed those murderers and burnt their city. Then he saith to his servants: The marriage indeed is ready; but they that were invited were not worthy. Go ye therefore into the highways; and as many as you shall find, call to the marriage. And his servants going forth into the ways, gathered together all that they found, both bad and good: and the marriage was filled with guests. And the king went in to see the guests: and he saw there a man who had not on a wedding garment. And he saith to him: Friend, how camest thou in hither not having on a wedding garment? But he was silent. Then the king said to the waiters: Bind his hands and feet, and cast him into the exterior darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. For many are called, but few are chosen.
🤔Reflections
💡The liturgy of the day perfectly unites the Epistle and the Gospel in the figure of St. Joseph of Cupertino. The wedding garment required by the king in the parable, without which no one can remain at the heavenly banquet, is charity, as described by St. Paul. The king invites everyone, "both bad and good," showing that the call to salvation is universal, but permanence in grace depends on possessing this garment. "What then is the wedding garment? [...] It is charity. He who has faith enters the wedding, but if he does not have charity, he will be cast out" (Saint Augustine, Sermon 90). This charity is not a mere feeling but a virtue that transforms the soul, as seen in St. Joseph of Cupertino, whose simplicity was elevated by a love that united him to God in an extraordinary way. "The wedding feast is the Holy Church in the present time. [...] The wedding garment, then, is charity, because the Lord possessed it in a singular way when He came to unite the Church to Himself" (Saint Gregory the Great, Homily 38 on the Gospels).
🗺️The Gospel of St. Matthew presents the parable of a king's wedding feast, while the version in St. Luke (Lk 14:15-24) narrates a similar parable but with notable differences. In Luke, it is not a king and his son, but "a certain man" who gave "a great supper." The excuses of the invited guests are more detailed and of an agrarian and familial nature (buying a field, a yoke of oxen, getting married). Furthermore, the host in Luke commands his servant to bring in "the poor, and the feeble, and the blind, and the lame" from the streets and lanes of the city, and then those from the highways and hedges, to fill the house. Luke's version completely omits the episode of the guest without the wedding garment and his subsequent punishment.
📜The writings of St. Paul deepen the symbolism of the parable. The image of the Church as the Bride of Christ, prepared for the wedding supper of the Lamb, is central to his theology (Eph 5:25-27). The "wedding garment" finds a direct parallel in the Pauline command to "put on Christ" (Gal 3:27; Rom 13:14), which means to cast off the works of darkness and live in the light of grace and charity. The rejection by the first guests and the subsequent call to all from the highways echoes St. Paul's doctrine on the rejection of the Gospel by many Jews and the opening of salvation to the Gentiles, who were once on the distant "highways" from the Covenant (Rom 11:11-25).
🏛️Church documents, such as the Catechism of the Council of Trent, explain that the "wedding garment" symbolizes the sanctifying grace received in Baptism. This garment, which makes us pleasing to God, can be stained or lost through mortal sin. However, it can be restored through the Sacrament of Penance. The parable, therefore, illustrates the doctrine of justification: we are freely called to faith (the invitation to the banquet), but we must cooperate with grace by living in charity (wearing the wedding garment) to attain eternal salvation. The call to "both bad and good" reflects the nature of the Church Militant, which, like a fishing net, contains both the just and sinners within its fold until the Final Judgment.
🔍See English version of the critical articles here.